Cough/Endoscope

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springer1021

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About a month ago one of my girls coughed up some thick yellow gunk. I got the vet out the following day and he diagnosed a secondary infection caused by the hay. She didn't have a temperature and was and still is fine in her self .

He said to soak all hay from now on, keep her out as often as possible and prescribed a course of Trimediazine PlaIn, after the course of antibiotics she was still coughing but a lot better than she was so he prescribed another course of same antibiotics and also ventiplumin and said that if she was still coughing after that they would consider scoping her but he was pretty sure she would be fine after the ventipulmin (she has a couple of days left).


About 4 years ago she did cough up some gunk, which I had completely forgotten about as I was on yard at the time and the YO dealt with the vet, I've sinced changed vets but I rang my old vet last week to check what the outcome was of this visit and it was low grade COPD but since then she has been kept in during nights and had dry hay, I have never had a problem till this episode.

Anyone any ideas what it could be?
 
Forgot to say that where I usually keep her is surrounded by Oil Seed Rape fields so I have moved her to alternative yard which is 20 miles away which doesn't have any crops nearby to see if cough improved but it hasn't.
 
Coughs that start or get worse in late autumn/winter are usually caused by an allergy to hay spores and dust, linked to being stabled for many more hours. Coughs that start or get worse at the beginning of spring/summer are usually caused by an allergy to pollens. They are an absolute pig to deal with because there is absolutely nothing you can do about your horse breathing the spring and summer air that is laden with pollen of various sorts. Ventolin can be prescribed, either oral or inhaled. Sputolosin breaks up the sticky strands of mucus and was oral only for my horse (who is on haylage, not hay, so much easier). Neither made the slightest difference for my veteran. He then went on to inhaled steroids but because he now takes only tiny shallow breaths (resting breaths per minute should be 8 -12, Sunny's are 35 - 45) so that didn't work either. Oral steroids were tried for a while but a) I was terrified they would bring on a laminitis attack and b) they are cripplingly expensive (veteran insurance doesn't cover). The only thing that gives my veteran relief is the arrival of November. He also has Cavalesse from March to September - it seems to bring about some relief last year but for all I know last year was low for pollen counts so can't really recommend it yet as a wonder drug. Fingers crossed for your boy.
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
Coughs that start or get worse in late autumn/winter are usually caused by an allergy to hay spores and dust, linked to being stabled for many more hours. Coughs that start or get worse at the beginning of spring/summer are usually caused by an allergy to pollens. They are an absolute pig to deal with because there is absolutely nothing you can do about your horse breathing the spring and summer air that is laden with pollen of various sorts. Ventolin can be prescribed, either oral or inhaled. Sputolosin breaks up the sticky strands of mucus and was oral only for my horse (who is on haylage, not hay, so much easier). Neither made the slightest difference for my veteran. He then went on to inhaled steroids but because he now takes only tiny shallow breaths (resting breaths per minute should be 8 -12, Sunny's are 35 - 45) so that didn't work either. Oral steroids were tried for a while but a) I was terrified they would bring on a laminitis attack and b) they are cripplingly expensive (veteran insurance doesn't cover). The only thing that gives my veteran relief is the arrival of November. He also has Cavalesse from March to September - it seems to bring about some relief last year but for all I know last year was low for pollen counts so can't really recommend it yet as a wonder drug. Fingers crossed for your boy.
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I'm really hoping it isn't a pollen allergy, she is a really sensitive thing any how, gets bothered by flies badly so has to wear a nose net this time of year and I have to patch test everything on her as she's allergic to so many products :mad: I was hoping by moving her to a different enviroment the cough would clear up :(
 
I have found that horses coughing at the end of the winter usually clear up once out 24/7, however yours may be more difficult due to other allergies. Soaking hay is often not enough, I now have all of mine on haylage, nothing has coughed since changing on to it and I would try yours on haylage it usually makes a lot of difference, plus no soaking when the weather is freezing.
 
be positive said:
I have found that horses coughing at the end of the winter usually clear up once out 24/7, however yours may be more difficult due to other allergies. Soaking hay is often not enough, I now have all of mine on haylage, nothing has coughed since changing on to it and I would try yours on haylage it usually makes a lot of difference, plus no soaking when the weather is freezing.
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I put her onto haylage just before she went to the other yard, she is better than she was. When she first coughed she brought up what looked like scrambled egg - yuk.

She had been on the hay all winter and I always soaked it but then we had one frosty day and I put a bale of dry hay out in the field, it was the following morning when she coughed up the gunk.

The hay is quite coarse, is it possible that somehow she has go a bit lodged somewhere?
 
I would think if anything was stuck in her she would be poorly and getting worse not better, if she is in work and feeling well a good steady canter may help open her airways and clear the remaining gunk out. Not recommended if she is not well enough as could do damage to her if she is put under stress but they sometimes need a good blow to clear them out.
 
sorry to hi-jack your thread but my horse has just recently developed a cough & i think it has been caused by his 24 hour turn out onto a well grazed paddock. At least thats what we think is the main cause because the weather has been so dry the ground is quite dusty, although he has been eating unsoaked hay, which has probably contributed to the cough as well.

He is now on haylage.

I am in a bit of a quandary - i had arranged to go on a fun-ride Easter Monday - its a sponsored ride with optional jumps - i have collected lots of sponsorship money :) but i don't know whether to go or not.

Will i damage his lungs if we go? My gut instinct is to leave him at home & just take my friend, which is ok by me but just wanted to check i'm not being over cautious, as has been suggested by some.

Is there anything else i should be doing for my horse? Do you think i should get the vet out or just monitor his progress - apart from on the first day of his cough when he had some white snot in his nose he's not coughed up any mucus etc.

Thanks verymuch for any advice, good or bad :)
 
fidgeuk said:
sorry to hi-jack your thread but my horse has just recently developed a cough & i think it has been caused by his 24 hour turn out onto a well grazed paddock. At least thats what we think is the main cause because the weather has been so dry the ground is quite dusty, although he has been eating unsoaked hay, which has probably contributed to the cough as well.

He is now on haylage.

I am in a bit of a quandary - i had arranged to go on a fun-ride Easter Monday - its a sponsored ride with optional jumps - i have collected lots of sponsorship money :) but i don't know whether to go or not.

Will i damage his lungs if we go? My gut instinct is to leave him at home & just take my friend, which is ok by me but just wanted to check i'm not being over cautious, as has been suggested by some.

Is there anything else i should be doing for my horse? Do you think i should get the vet out or just monitor his progress - apart from on the first day of his cough when he had some white snot in his nose he's not coughed up any mucus etc.

Thanks verymuch for any advice, good or bad :)
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If he is still coughing and doing so when ridden, other than an initial clear out, I would not take him on a long ride such as this, it could do long term harm.

If he is improving I would just monitor, you have done the right thing by giving dust free haylage, if it does not clear fairly soon a course of ventipulmin may be what is needed to clear his airways.
 
Thanks for the speedy response :)

I think it is more than a clear out & i haven't ridden him since last Monday, which is when the cough started. although I did lunge him once just to see if he might clear it. But as it seemed persistant i stopped before he had done anything strenuous.

So i think my initial reaction to the situation is correct and i won't be taking him, which is fine i can be my friends unpaid groom for the day :) and there are plenty of other fun rides.

I haven't turned him out 24/7 yet because the summer paddocks were fertilised in the hot weather we had & we still haven't had enough rain to make it safe for the horses to go out in them yet - at least thats what we've been told by YO.

Bring on some rain i say.

Thanks for your input
 
Mine as also been on a well grazed paddock which is now down to the soil, it's only about 1.5 acres and the two of them have been in there since November but the yard owner wont let me put them in the other field where the grass is yet.
 
We are allowed to have ours out 24/7 but i don't see the point when there's not much grass & he's keen to come in because he's hungry.
 
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